Posts Made By: Brandon Burns

My wife is getting her masters in astronomy and geoplanetary science for teachers. In this program she's required to work at the local observatory quite a bit. She's meantioned several times how much she loves it and would like to have her own telescope one day. I assume she knows what she's talking about because she's always talking about reflector/refrators, light gathering capacity, lenses & optics, and other stuff I have no clue about. To make a long story short...I'd like to surprise her with her first telescope, but I have no idea how to shop for one. I'm looking for some good recommendations considering I'd like to spend $500-$1500. Something that will last a while (technology wise). Something that will interface with or capture images onto her computer (Macbook Pro). Something that is somewhat portable that she can carry around to her classroom for her students, or take on a trip to a dark place (Not Houston. Hopefully I'm supplying enough information. Some good recommendations or starting place would be great! Thanks.